Indianapolis, IN
Animal Care Services out of space, asks people to adopt to ‘save more lives’
FACE ‘cat-trapper’ Amelda Butler helps Indy’s eastside with stray cats
FACE ‘cat-trapper’ Amelda Butler has helped spayed and neutered thousands of cats over her 25 years of service. See why she does it.
Indianapolis Animal Care Services announced Dec. 6 that they are out of space at their 2600 South Harding Street animal shelter, urging people in a post online to adopt pets.
Adopting a pet makes room for the next animal that comes into the shelter, officials said. Same-day adoptions are an option, according to the online post, and foster-to-adopt options are also available.
“That’s the truth. We are completely out of kennel space, and animals are continuing to come in,” the post read. “The only way we can save more lives is if pets leave the building today.”
The situation is particularly dire for dogs, according to an updated post on Facebook. There were 227 dogs in the shelter and 210 kennels, putting the shelter at 108% capacity. There were 61 cats and 91 feline kennels, putting capacity at 67%. Shelter officials said they try to operate at about 80% capacity to ensure they can provide quality care and be prepared for emergencies.
The post said that short-term fostering of animals still helps make room and space needed at the shelter.
Kelly LaRoche with the shelter told IndyStar that they are over capacity, “which unfortunately has become our normal operating state.”
“At this point, we have no open kennels available for incoming animals,” LaRoche said. “When we say we urgently need adopters today, that is not an exaggeration. Without adoptions or fosters creating space, we have nowhere to safely house the animals still coming through our doors.”
LaRoche said they only put animals in the same kennel if they come to the shelter as a bonded pair or if they were previously living together. As long as their behaviors are calm and neither is sick, they can share one kennel.
Placing animals that don’t know each other together creates a risk of fighting and injury, according to LaRoche, as well as the possibility of spreading disease.
“We anticipate needing adopters and fosters not just today, but every day for the foreseeable future,” LaRoche said. “The pressure on space does not let up, and our intake as an open-admission municipal shelter does not stop.”
Here’s how you can help
If you have questions about adopting, you can email the shelter at adoptions@indycares.org.
You can find out more about individual animals at the shelter by checking out their posts on Facebook.
Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.
The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.
But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.
The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.
The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.
Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.
“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.
“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”
The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”
He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.
The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.
“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.
Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.
Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.
“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.
But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.
The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.
One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.
AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
Interactive radar | Weather alerts by county
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE
(WRTV) — A tornado watch has been issued through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for much of Indiana, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.
The watch area covers 47 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and includes Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
Counties in the watch area are Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White.
WRTV Meteorologist Ryan Morse says Wednesday afternoon’s rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state. A line of supercells were expected to form in Illinois and travel into central Indiana.
In neighboring Illinois, dozens of counties are under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.
All threats of severe weather were on the table: damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.
Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours.
WISH-TV Meteorologist Keith Gibson says people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.
The next chance for rain after these storms could be on Saturday.
-
Lifestyle29 minutes agoThe second life of a classic: ‘Amores Perros’ is remastered and back in theaters
-
Technology39 minutes agoValve is so behind on Steam Controller orders that some won’t ship until 2027
-
World44 minutes agoFrom bear hugs to handshakes: How India lost its edge with Trump while Pakistan quietly gained ground
-
Politics51 minutes agoNew poll reveals where Americans stand after Trump agreement with Iran
-
Health54 minutes agoNo sex for 10 weeks? Championship team’s playoff strategy raises eyebrows
-
Sports59 minutes ago2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot Race Tracker: Lionel Messi Is Alone At The Top
-
Technology1 hour agoMcDonald’s AI drive-thru may take your next order
-
Business1 hour ago
Uber, California lawyers say deal reached to avert dueling ballot initiative showdown
